When the line between friendship and family disappears

I have some pretty unbelievable friends…  Aside from putting up with the fact that I am at heart an incurable nomad, and accepting that I up and move to another country every few years, they give me strength, to do things like join the Peace Corps and start a new life in another country.

Every bump I hit along the road during this “Get to the Peace Corps” journey was done with their encouragement and love. They make me a better person, and though I’ll miss them every day, I absolutely can’t wait for them to come visit.

I don’t think there is another person in the world who is lucky as I am to have them in my life. Thank you all so much for last night… it was awesome!

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Costa Rica Bound….

Hey look at that, I’m joining the Peace Corps!

So this is it, FINALLY, in just over three weeks I’m heading to Dallas for a one day staging, then I go to Costa Rica along with 20+ (at least) other people. I will spend 3 months training and then spend 2 years working in the TEFL program. I’m terrified. In the good way.

It’s been an insane process that started 7 years ago when I realized that this was something I would do someday… Then November of 2010 I kicked my procrastinating ass into gear and submitted the last part of my application… then poof 15 long months later, it’s happening.

Many people seem to think that joining the Peace Corps might be a crazy choice: putting my life “on hold” to serve in another country without a salary, far from home, leaving friends and family among other things. It does sometimes seem a little insane to me… but as someone once wrote on their blog, “it’s about forgetting yourself and focusing on others – taking yourself out of the frame and looking at the picture… Man is not an island and cannot survive alone.” To me it seems natural and necessary to give what I can in this moment, which is time, skills and enthusiasm, to a community that has a need for it and no alternatives.

My pants would also be on fire if i didn’t mention how unbelievable the idea of living in a beautiful country, having the opportunity to travel a bit and explore new things wasn’t a great part of the package.

So, if you’re interested in any of this, here is another blog to add to the thousands of PC blogs out there, if you miss me like crazy (I’m looking at you 189) then here is some ramblings that you wont be getting on your voice mail regularly anymore, and if you’re lost and stumbled upon this, I’ll hopefully have something interesting before you click the hell outta here!

-E

ps – a little mini timeline for anyone out there considering the peace corps… I always found them helpful!

November 2010 – Submitted Application

December 2010 – Received an email from a recruiter with MORE information and forms to fill out, and warning that my regional preference would be ignored 😉

January 2011 – Interview with a recruiter, I received my nomination two weeks later for TEFL in Latin America departing October 2011.

February 2011 – Received tons of paperwork for medical and legal clearance, it took me about 3 months to schedule the right doctors appointments, dentist, etc, all in all, i didn’t get full clearance on everything until summer. 

July 2011 – Received email stating that due to budget cuts, my position was no longer available, (gaaah!) and was I interested in remaining an applicant and leaving at a later date? well… I’d waited 7 years… what’s a few more months?

October 2011 – Invitation to serve in Costa Rica starting in February 2012.

And there we are! My advice if you’re going to apply:

1 – Get the process started sooner than you think, because things happen and delay this more often than not.

2 – Be patient and don’t sweat it, you can’t rush it, don’t check your application toolkit thing obsessively, honestly, all the good stuff will come in the mail anyway. Don’t stalk the mailman, he wont like that either.

3 – Don’t go into it with preconceived ANYTHING. don’t assume you know what you want to do, or where you want to go, trust that you will be assigned where you are most needed and allow random luck and fate to take you where you need to be.

good luck to you!